After two weeks of computer trouble and finally buying a new one, I'm ready to begin a combination of writing and art posts. I had painted a front cover for my first book, The Journey, but I decided it was too busy to work well with the title and information on the back cover. The scene was of my grandmother walking uphill from a creek that was nestled in a valley, where the wagon train had stopped for the night, surrounded by pines and cedars. She carried a bucket of water and a shotgun, unaware that a grey wolf on a hillside behind her was making his way down to drink. I studied what I should have left off, and when I finished the manuscript for my next book, I knew what to paint.
On the cover of The Winds of September, Judith Hodge stands in a prairie field with her home, a Texas soddy, in the background. In order to keep her sanity, about once a week, Judith puts on her best dress and goes for a walk by herself. I wanted to capture here the effect of constant prairie winds. Notice how her dress and sash blow backward, and how the tall grass bends in the same direction, the underside dark with highlights on top. I constantly strive for contrast when I paint, and here, the sky color reflects off her arms, and is even picked up in the ground cover. More about Judith in my next post.

The Healing Side of Art

Long before I became a writer, I was, and still am, an artist. At the present time,I teach a weekly oil painting class and have for decades. Years ago,as I walked and checked my students work before mistakes were too far gone to correct, I suddenly realized how many tragic stories were represented in that room. But for these two hours, troubles were put on a back shelf. We laughed, and rejoiced over what I refer to as 'happy accidents'. We introduced ochre grass against gray wind blown skies, falling wooden fence posts, with an old barn in the background that brought back childhood memories of farm work.
If there is enough response to my posts on painting, my plans are to have a small booklet printed with simple starting tips on creating a work of art at home. I'd love to hear from you. My email: (francesbennett7@gmail.com). I'll never forget that magical feeling when I first began to paint and watched as the colors came to life on my canvas. If you've never experienced that, it's hard to explain. Anyone can learn to paint. True enough, some are better at it than others, but it's as unique to each person as their hand writing.
I painted the cover for my latest book, The Winds of September, which is set in the late 1800's, and is a story about homesteading in an Appalachian Valley of Tennessee. In my next post, I'll explain some steps involved in creating this image. View it at www.bookstandpublishing.com/book_details/The_Winds_of_September.